MOSCOW , Russia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Russian officials on Monday located a Russian cargo ship that has been missing for more than two weeks after it was believed to have been hijacked , a top official said .

The Arctic Sea had been missing since July 31 .

The Arctic Sea was located 300 miles -LRB- 483 km -RRB- from Cape Verde , an island nation a few hundred miles from the coast of western Africa , said Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov .

The crew `` is alive and well , '' he said .

`` The crew members have been moved to our anti-submarine warfare ship Ladny where they are answering questions , '' Serdyukov said .

`` The questioning aims to clarify all circumstances of how the ship disappeared and why did it not send any -LSB- emergency -RSB- signals . ''

The Arctic Sea , which sails under a Maltese flag , had not been heard from since July 31 . It was carrying a 6,500-ton cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria when it reported trouble on July 24 off the coast of Sweden .

It was scheduled to arrive in North Africa on August 4 .

On Friday , the ship was reported to be in international waters north of Cape Verde . The news came from Portugal 's state news agency , which quoted Cape Verde 's defense director , Pedro Reis .

The U.S. military also had a report last week that the ship had been seen a few hundred miles from Cape Verde , two military sources told CNN , but the United States had no independent verification of those reports . The U.S. military was not involved in the search .

At the time , Russia 's ambassador to Cape Verde , however , denied that the Arctic Sea had been spotted near the island nation .

On July 24 , the ship 's 15-member crew had told authorities that eight to 12 people armed with guns and pistols boarded the vessel about 3 a.m. that day , masked and wearing uniforms with the word `` police '' written on them , the Malta Maritime Authority said .

`` During -LSB- the attackers ' -RSB- stay onboard , the members of the crew were allegedly assaulted , tied , gagged and blindfolded and some of them were seriously injured , '' the maritime authority said in a written statement .

Swedish police reached the ship by phone on July 31 and spoke with someone they believe to be the captain , police spokeswoman Maria Lonegard said . It was the last known communication with the vessel , which was believed to be off the coast of France at that time .

On Saturday Finnish police told CNN that a ransom demand had been issued to the ship 's owners , Solchart Management , for the return of the vessel .

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Missing cargo ship Arctic Star found weeks after disappearing

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Crew safe , transferred to Russian naval vessel , ship 's owners tell CNN

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Ship was carrying timber cargo from Finland to Algeria

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Ship believed to have been hijacked off Swedish coast on July 24